N
Nene.
Guest
Sunday December 12, 2010
Marriage is my right, says 14-year-old Maya
By IWAN SHU-ASWAD SHUAIB and RACHEL LAW
[email protected]
PETALING JAYA: Siti Maryam Mahmood is standing firm by her decision to get married at a young age. “Marriage is the right of the individual and I am well-prepared to take up the duties of a wife,” said the teenager, fondly called Maya by her family.
Siti Maryam Mahmood
“I have thought about the responsibilities and the consequences of marrying at a young age. “At the same time, I have my mother to guide me on my marriage and my wifely duties,” she told Mingguan mStar, the weekly Malay news magazine of The Star.
Maya, who got to know her husband, 23-year-old Abdul Manan Othman, early this year when he was giving tuition on religion to her two younger siblings, said both their families were open-minded about the marriage although it had sparked a controversy.
The couple married on Oct 22 but caught public attention only when they took part in a 1Malaysia wedding reception organised by the Federal Territory Islamic Affairs Department (Jawi) last week.
The matter had since stirred a heated debate over young marriages, prompting Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil to say the Syariah Court’s decision to allow Maya’s marriage is not a government-endorsed policy.
Abdul Manan Othman
“Marriage is a serious issue. It is worrying when cases like this become a culture. The risks and impacts are severe to those who get married at a young age,” she said, stating that the family institution should not be taken lightly.
Maya said she was not forced into the marriage. “He proposed to me and both our families agreed ... that is the important thing,” she said, refuting suggestions that girls who marry young are denied the opportunity to learn and develop to their full potential because they are “forced to be adults” through marriage.
Asked about raising children, Maya – a student at a religious secondary school here – said she and her husband had agreed that she would focus first on completing her studies. Abdul Manan, a teacher who had been accepted by the family as an anak angkat (foster son), defended his right to marry Maya.
“The marriage serves to allay the community’s negative perceptions about my relationship with her family,” he said, vowing that he will ensure his young wife completes her secondary education. He added that their marriage was valid under Islamic law and they had not done anything that is haram (illicit) or sinful.
“It is not like some youths who get babies out of wedlock and then dump the infants,” he said. Siti Hawa Kassim, 41, said she allowed Maya to marry because she was confident her daughter’s religious education would help her become a mature person who would be able to handle the challenges in marriage life.
